Great blog writing advice from Problogger
I am a huge fan of Problogger . The latest post has some of the best writing advice I’ve seen for blogs.
How to tell a client their ‘baby’ is ugly
In honor of being incredibly lazy this week, here’s one of my fave 2009 posts – the last Friday of every month I’ll throw a repeat of one of the more popular posts, just in case you missed it!
A product, service or book is probably the greatest thing in the world – to its creator. But when an editor or producers says “pass” it’s the publicist who has to tell the client. Sometimes ZERO media are interested. And for anyone who has written a book, started a business or provided a service, that can be a pretty personally hurtful message no matter how carefully it’s couched. For me, it’s the equivalent of having to tell clients “your baby is ugly” 95% of the time, without hurting their feelings. Nearly impossible.
Not sure what to pay pro bloggers? Read on…
There is no right and wrong when it comes to paying bloggers. Industry standards are dictated over pricing trends from the past few years since professional blogging services are a relatively new offering.
Great books for learning (and doing) your own PR
There are so many books out there for business owners on how to do your own marketing and/or public relations. Frankly most of them say the same thing – know the reporter, don’t be too salesy, etc. Here are my top five picks – not only are these books current, they go into real tactics that you can use right away. I think if you read these books, whether you’re a small business owner, author, entrepreneur…. you can start promoting or upgrade what you’re already doing and get some results fast.
Gut Wrenching Fear – the tagline for owning a small business
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself, right?So the next time you wake up in the middle of the night worried about that big check you need to cover payroll – or when half your customers decide your service is a “luxury” they can do without – try these and see if they work. Here’s how I’ve learned to deal with it over past seven years. I hope you’ll add your own fun tips and ways to get around it too!
Crisis communications in the 2.0 world
In PR speak a crisis is any “public challenge to your reputation”. Mostly we think of crisis in terms of big scale events, like the Motrin Moms, but really, a crisis happens anytime something could damage your personal or professional brand long term. It can be as simple as a negative comment on a public forum – or it could be a lot worse.
How to know if you should fire your PR rep
Flacks get a lot of, well, FLACK. Some of it deserved and some of it not. If you’re a new product, new author, small business or otherwise lower profile brand it can take a long time to establish a media footprint, digital or otherwise. Getting placements right away isn’t always the best measurement as things can take a long time.
It’s time to give new buyers of public relations services a checklist for separating the rock stars from the ones with rocks in their head.
How to bake a yummy social media souffle
I talk a lot about the need for the right “mix” when you promote your product, business, book, whatever it is – engaging in social media is no different. To get a good result you have to find the recipe that’s 100% ALL YOURS. But just like the hard-to-bake souffle, there are some ingredients I’ve seen in of the work of ALL successful social media contributors. Here are the components I believe you should always use for your social media recipe…and some of experts who cook it up just right.
from Rachel with love
Sorry old school journalists, savvy advertising experts and prickly control-freak publicists but it’s time to realize something. To survive you can no longer be storytellers – you have to be information managers.
From the “other” Wax – Are you updating Facebook today?
Wax is an integrated marketing firm – the only other “Wax” I’ve found in the U.S. Of course they’re in Miami so I imagine it’s a little different corporate culture (if I actually have one) than here in Minnesota.